Trump did not tell Erdoğan he would extradite Gülen: White House official

WASHINGTON

President Donald Trump did not commit during a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the G20 summit two weeks ago to extradite Fethullah Gülen, a senior White House official said on Dec. 17.

Turkey has long been pressing on its NATO ally for the extradition of Gülen, the leader of FETÖ that is widely believed to have led the deadly failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016.

“While meeting with President Erdoğan at the G20, the president did not commit to extradite Fethullah Gülen,” said the official, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity.

The statement came two days after Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said Ankara was informed by U.S. officials about an ongoing FBI probe on FETÖ’s tax evasion.

“In Argentina, Trump told Erdoğan they were working on extraditing Gülen and other people,” Çavuşoğlu told a forum on Dec. 15 in Doha, referring to the G20 summit where the leaders met two weeks ago.

The NBC reported last month that the White House was looking for ways to extradite Gülen in order to placate Turkey over the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, in a development that followed the release of U.S. Pastor Andrew Brunson. But, Trump had denied the report stressing the U.S. administration was not considering the extradition of Gülen.